Fishers tax preparer sentenced to 4 years in $1.5M fraud scheme

A Fishers tax preparer was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday after he pleaded guilty to his role in directing the filing of more than 2,300 false tax returns over a two-year period.

David Franklin, 44, pleaded guilty to three counts of making and filing false tax reports, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler. He will serve four years and an additional three years of supervised release.

Franklin owned nearly 30 Instant Tax Service tax preparation stores in the Indianapolis area when an Internal Revenue Service investigation revealed he instructed his more than 50 employees to prepare false federal income tax returns for clients from 2010 to 2012, according to the release.

Specifically, investigators alleged Franklin told his employees to prepare Form 1040 Schedule C forms with inflated income or loss, which resulted in earned income credits and refunds for his company's taxpayer clients.

"Mr. Franklin did not steal from an agency in Washington, he stole from his fellow citizen," Minkler said in the release.

As part of the plea agreement, Franklin is also ordered to pay restitution for the tax loss, or more than $1.5 million, according to the release.